Prince William expresses dismay at Fifa's refusal to allow England team to pay tribute to war dead

The Duke of Cambridge has written to Fifa to express his dismay at their
decision not to allow England players to wear commemorative poppies during
this weekend's international friendly against Spain, St James's Palace said
tonight.

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Weighing in: Duke of Cambridge, pictured here with former England captain David Beckham, has called upon Fifa to reconsiderPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

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Protest: An English Defence League supporter poses with his banner on the roof of Fifa's headquarters in Zurich

In the note penned privately in his role as president of the Football Association (FA), William asked football's international governing body to reconsider its decision.

The duke, who will take part in the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph on Sunday, believes the poppy is a universal symbol of remembrance and has no other connotations.

Fifa rejected a Government request that England and Wales be allowed to wear the symbols in this weekend's friendlies, claiming the move would "jeopardise the neutrality of football."

The world governing body were targeted earlier today by protesters angry that they have banned England from wearing embroidered poppies on their team shirts on Saturday for the match against world champions Spain.

Two members of the English Defence League climbed onto the roof of Fifa's headquarters in Zurich with a banner protesting against the ban.

A Fifa spokesman confirmed the protest is ongoing and that Swiss police were in attendance.

The two protesters displayed a banner with two poppies on which read: "English defence League. How dare Fifa disrespect our war dead and wounded. Support out troops."

The incident will come as something of an embarrassment to the FA given that the EDL are a far-right group whose founder Stephen Lennon was convicted in July of leading a street brawl with 100 football fans.

Lennon, a father of three from Luton, was sentenced to a 12-month community rehabilitation order, 150 hours of unpaid work and given a three-year football banning order.

A spokesman for 'Hope not hate', an anti-EDL campaign group, said: "It's a little hypocritical of the EDL to be leading this protest given that their leader Stephen Lennon is a convicted football hooligan.

"It is important that neither the symbol of the poppy nor the Three Lions of England are appropriated by extremists of the EDL."

Fifa have always maintained that wearing poppies on shirts would contravene their rules governing what is allowed on shirts, but sports minister Hugh Robertson called them reconsider.

"I am writing to you in support of requests from The Football Association and The Football Association of Wales to ask you to consider allowing the England and Wales football teams to wear poppies on their shirts for Saturday’s international matches, taking place a day before Remembrance Sunday," Robertson's said in a letter to Jerome Valcke, Fifa's general secretary.

However, a Fifa statement issued in response said: "We regret to inform you that accepting such initiatives would open the door to similar initiatives from all over the world, jeopardising the neutrality of football.

"Therefore, we confirm herewith that the suggested embroidery on the match shirt cannot be authorised."

Prime Minister David Cameron subsequently condemned the ban and described Fifa's stance as an "appalling decision" and said that he hoped the governing body of world football will "reconsider it."

Talking in Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, Cameron, when asked about the controversy that has overshadowed Saturday's international friendly, said that the government needed to send a message to Fifa.

After being questioned, Cameron said: "I think [the questioner] not only speaks for the whole House, but in fact the whole country, [in] being completely baffled and frankly angry [at] the decision made by Fifa.

"If teams want to be able to put the poppy on their shirt, as many teams do in our football league do, they should be able to at the national level, whether it is the English team or whether it is the Welsh team.

"I think this is an appalling decision and I hope they'll reconsider it."

Meanwhile Chris Simpkins, Royal British Legion director general, who organisethe Poppy Appeal, said: "There are other ways to honour the poppy than by wearing it on a shirt.

"The FA has helped us explore every alternative available and we are satisfied that England will enter the competition knowing they have shown proper respect for our armed forces."